Launching Industry-first Machine Vision Technology

CAMBRIDGE, MA, July 25, 2018 -- Squadle, Inc., a next generation AI operations platform, secured $3M in funding to expand operations as it brings modern, digital, data-driven solutions to the largest multi-unit brands in the nation. The company will use the capital to grow their team and augment their products with industry-first machine vision capabilities.

Squadle Genius is an AI/Machine Vision add-on to Checklists that uses in-store cameras to detect issues. The system has been in use over the last year by customers participating in a closed beta.

“This funding allows us to scale rapidly while continuing to offer the best vendor support in the industry,” said Le Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Squadle. “And with capital in hand, we are gearing up to introduce cutting-edge AI technologies that we believe will shape the industry over the next few years.”

Squadle’s new machine vision product is being launched after a year of stealth development. The technology, called Squadle Genius, uses in-store camera feeds to detect store quality and consistency issues, such as empty display cases, marketing material placement, leftover food on tables, or overflowing trash cans.

Checklists on a Tablet Improves Consistency and ProfitabilitySquadle’s flagship Checklists solution puts operating procedures on a tablet and digitizes the thousands of paper logs used by operators every day. Paper logs are error-prone and hard to use for employee follow-up. Tablet based Checklists improves employee engagement, task completion and saves hours of follow up time for store and district managers resulting in more consistent and profitable operations.

Alerts and Big Data Analytics Empower Managers and OwnersReal-time Alerts tell managers when important tasks have been missed so they can address issues before they become a problem. Big Data Analytics gives managers and owners x-ray vision into trends and best practices at their stores. Real time reports, daily emails, and operations benchmarks help managers and owners make better operating decisions every day.

The $3M funding round is led by a private family fund. Companyon Ventures and Walnut Ventures also participated in the round.

“We were thoroughly impressed with Squadle’s ability to solve genuine pain points in the hospitality industry and we are thrilled to support them as they continue to grow,” said Michael Inwald, current fund manager for Squadle’s lead investor and former multi-unit restaurant owner and operator. “We believe that the future of restaurant technology will be driven by a continued need for greater operational efficiency in the field combined with thoughtful integration of data-driven intelligence. Squadle has shown both the capability and commitment to tackling those challenges and we can’t wait to see their new solutions improve the experience for brands and their customers.”

About Squadle

Squadle is a next generation AI operations platform that is redefining and enhancing multi-unit restaurant operations in the digital age. The company provides easy-to-use, cutting edge solutions to their restaurant partners, with nationwide deployments with multi-unit franchisees of McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Brands, and other Fortune 500 chains. Founded by MIT, Boston College and Johns Hopkins alumni, the company has offices in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC. Visit Squadle at www.squadle.com for more information.

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Le Zhang launched his tech career while still in high school, landing his first software development job at State Street at the ripe old age of 16. “I got to figure out how these big corporations operate,” he says, “but they were way too slow for the kinds of things I wanted to work on.” Fittingly, Zhang’s Kendall Square startup, Squadle, is all about capitalizing on the corporate world’s reluctance to adopt change, offering sensors and automation to digitize operations for two of the last industries that still rely on paper records: retail and restaurants. Customers so far include Dunkin’ Donuts, Sonic, and Chick-fil-A, and that’s just the beginning, Zhang says: “In five years, I can see every multi-unit retail store using our system.”

One of the other ways Chicken & Rice Guys has improved is through Squadle, a Cambridge-based startup that is helping the chain digitize its practices. Most recently, the chain started using the company’s wireless temperature management system for its coolers and Squadle’s digital checklist software to automate the compliance process.

“In today’s complex food chain where food can come from different regions, different suppliers and distributors, technology is a logical step to be able to manage that complexity,” So told BostInno in an email.

Chicken & Rice Guys had already been a customer of Squadle, which aims to digitize many of a restaurant chain’s back-of-house operations, including all the daily paperwork that has to be done on things like employee shifts, amount of cash in the bank and temperature logs. One of the ways Squadle digitizes these processes is through Internet-connected sensors (à la the Internet of Things), including foot traffic trackers, wireless cameras, and the wireless temperature system Chicken & Rice Guys now uses.

Le Zhang, Squadle’s founder and CEO. Photo via LinkedIn.

Le Zhang, founder and CEO of Squadle, said one of the main factors that lead to food safety incidents is the lack of a good system for tracking the temperatures in coolers and other food storage equipment. With Squadle’s wireless temperature sensor, it can track the temperature of a cooler around the clock and provide alerts when the temperature falls out of a certain range because, for instance, someone forgot to close the cooler door. Beyond ensuring that food is safe to eat, it also helps with loss prevention, Zhang said.

Squadle also has a handheld temperature sensor that speeds up the process of checking a food’s temperature while it’s being prepared. When the sensor is measuring a food’s temperature, it sends the information to Squadle’s software on a tablet and then says whether or not it’s within the right range. If it isn’t, the software then provides the restaurant employee with a corrective action for them to take.

Zhang said these things, plus Squadle’s other products, are all meant to help maximize a restaurant’s revenue and minimize its costs. Those things can’t be done, he said if you’re not using a system like Squadle’s to collect data on all of a restaurant’s processes, which then gives managers the information they need to make operational changes.

“Without data, you’re making blind decisions,” he said.

Squadle has 14 employees, and it has raised about $1.2 million from investors to date. Other customers include Sonic, Chick-fil-A and Hyatt.

Tech writer for BostInno since 2015. Always looking for the real story behind the headlines. Have a tip about something our readers should know? Send me an email at dmartin@americaninno.com. I'm also available to talk on encrypted messaging apps.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Squadle, Inc., an innovative restaurant automation platform, announced today that it will now cover the Canadian stores of multi-unit restaurant chains. The move extends Squadle's solutions to the Canadian market and supports the international expansion plans of Squadle's multi-unit customers.

"We are proud to expand our solution to retail units across Canada," said Le Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Squadle. "Canadian franchisees can now realize the same productivity gains that our customers' US stores are experiencing."

Squadle has selected Canada's largest wireless communications provider to supply secure, reliable connectivity across Canada to transmit data from customer stores to the Squadle Data Cloud.

Checklists on a Tablet Improves Consistency and ProfitabilitySquadle's flagship Checklists solution puts operating procedures on a tablet and digitizes the thousands of paper logs used by operators every day. Paper logs are error-prone and hard to use for employee follow-up. Tablet-based Checklists improves employee engagement, task completion and saves hours of follow-up time for store and district managers resulting in more consistent and profitable operations.

Alerts and Big Data Analytics Empower Managers and OwnersReal-time Alerts tell managers when important tasks have been missed so they can address issues before they become a problems. Big Data Analytics gives managers and owners x-ray vision into trends and best practices at their stores. Real-time reports, daily emails, and operations benchmarks help managers and owners make better operating decisions every day.

International Expansion Plans

"Squadle's expansion to Canada is the first in our effort to support our customers' international expansion plans," said Steven Ladd, Chief Strategy Officer, Squadle.

Enforced with Squadle Checklist and Temperature Management Solutions

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Chicken & Rice Guys (CNRG) reopened all of their brick-and-mortar locations after being cleared by the Boston Public Health Committee. The company previously closed each of their locations in caution after several cases of E.coli were allegedly traced to CNRG Allston location in late March. CNRG has now deployed Squadle Checklists and Temperature Management solutions as part of implementing comprehensive food safety best practices.

"We are enthusiastic to implement new digital food safety practices at all our restaurants," said CNRG co-founder Ian So. "We want to provide the most delicious meals to our fans and ensure our food is prepared with superb quality."

CNRG addressed the issue head-on by engaging in food safety meetings and proactively tightening up food safety procedures. Additionally, CNRG properly disposed their prepared foods in entirety and professionally deep-cleaned and tested all facilities to prevent further incidents. This included supplier reviews, employee training, an external auditing process and automating best practices in temperature management.

One key to food safety best practice is automating temperature checks to control biological hazards in food preparation. Wireless sensors automatically take temperatures of coolers, 24/7. Workers use Squadle's ZeroTouch™ probe to digitally log temperatures during food preparation to ensure all items stay in the food safety zone. Squadle's system alerts employees when to track handheld temperatures and signals when cooler temperatures go out of the food safety range, for example during a power outage.

CNRG also implements Squadle Checklists to automate compliance in food safety procedures. Unautomated restaurants typically have approximately 60% compliance over all their procedures. Digitized checklists have been shown to boost the average compliance to over 90%.

"Squadle is proud to be a part of CNRG's multi-pronged food safety program that will help ensure they serve only the best, safest food possible," said Le Zhang, CEO of Squadle.

Making automation easier for multi-unit restaurant operators

CAMBRIDGE, MA, January 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/-- Squadle, a pioneer in automating multi-unit restaurant operations, announces the issuance of Patent 9,534,938 covering automated handheld measurement devices and algorithms. The first product to implement this technology is the Zero-Touch™ temperature probe, which will soon be available through select hardware partners. The handheld technology joins other “Internet of Things” sensors in Squadle’s back-of-house automation platform.

Squadle’s Zero-Touch™ temperature probe enables food service workers to take food and equipment temperatures 83% faster than with a manual thermometer. Workers save on average 1 hour a day while multi-unit owners receive peace of mind through up-to-the minute food safety compliance. Squadle customers experience up to 10% higher per store profits by saving employees’ and managers’ time and reducing food spoilage. For case studies or more information, visit www.squadle.com.

“The average fast food restaurant is run with expensive manual processes that are tracked on unreliable paper logs. Our operations platform replaces paper logs and automates manual processes.” said Le Zhang, founder and CEO, Squadle. “Squadle’s IoT platform is a flexible, scalable and reliable way to simplify our customers’ processes.”

Squadle started with an easy-to-use Checklists tablet that replaces paper logs. Franchise owners and managers saw that task completion rose when tablet checklists replaced paper checklists. They also received real-time accountability, operations benchmarks and best practice metrics. Building off of Checklists, Squadle launched its sensor platform and analytics which are revolutionizing multi-unit operations.

Squadle’s innovations with automated probes, checklists and actionable analytics are one part of Squadle’s ambitious product roadmap. Partners are integrating smart hardware, database, connectivity and analytics to make Squadle the go-to platform to automate multi-unit operations. The goal: to help operators deliver the product and service consistency that drives store revenue and profitability.

“The IoT space is littered with thousands of automation products that are a pain to make sense of.” said Le. “Our platform provides an easy, curated, and extremely customizable method to implement automation without disrupting operations.”